Review: I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson

I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson

Little, Brown and Company

July 2012

Format: Hardcover, 416 pages

First line: Starting to gasp as she climbed the increasingly steep slope of the tangled hiking trail, Mary Catherine was about to take a breather when the tree line opened.

From the inside cover:The NYPD’s Micheal Bennett is James Patterson’s greatest detective ever.

POLICE OFFICERS SHOT

Detective Michael Bennett arrests an infamous Mexican crime lord in a
deadly chase that leaves Bennett’s lifelong friend Hughie McDonough
dead. From jail, the prisoner vows to rain epic violence down upon New
York City-and to get revenge on Michael Bennett. 

JUDGES MURDERED

To escape the chaos, Bennett takes his ten kids and their beautiful
nanny, Mary Catherine, on a much-needed vacation to his family’s cabin
near Newburgh, New York. But instead of the calm and happy town he
remembers from growing up, they step into a nightmare worse than they
could have ever imagined. Newburgh is an inferno of warring gangs, and
there’s little the police-or Bennett-can do to keep the children safe. 

TARGET: MICHAEL BENNETT

As violence overwhelms the state, Bennett is torn between protecting
his hometown and saving New York City. A partner in his investigations,
federal prosecutor Tara McLellan, brings him new weapons for the
battle-and an attraction that endangers his relationship with Mary
Catherine. A no-holds-barred, pedal-to-the-floor, action-packed novel, I, Michael Bennett is James Patterson at his most personal and most thrilling best.

My thoughts: This is the 5th book in James Patterson’s Michael Bennett series and this is one of my favorite series by Patterson.
I love this New York Detective, his large adopted family,
grandfather Seamus, and the nanny, Mary Catherine.

This
latest thriller deals with a drug lord who is out to get revenge and in the
process several members of the Bennett family get injured, police
officers and a judge get killed and Michael Bennett has to keep his cool while
trying to catch this killer.  The action is divided between New York City and Newburgh, NY, which is the closest city to where the Bennett family’s vacation lake house is located. 

 On top of that, there’s the romantic triangle that Michael finds himself in…there are definitely some sparks between Michael and Mary Catherine, but then there’s also something going on with federal prosecutor Tara McLennan, and this doesn’t sit too well with Mary Catherine. Would the Bennett clan survive if MC left?

Filled with suspense and quite a few twists thrown in, I was hooked from the beginning. The ending, however, is the part that I wasn’t expecting and now I will be anxiously awaiting the release of the next Michael Bennett book to see how this plot line develops.

Do you like when authors end a book with a cliff hanger?

(I purchased this book.)

Books in this series:

1. Step on a Crack
2. Run For Your Life
3. Worst Case
4. Tick Tock
5. I, Michael Bennett